Watch Review: Eberhard & Co. Scafograf 200 DLC Limited Edition
Eberhard & Co. watches are lovely enthusiast-grade products that are nevertheless a bit hard to come by given the brand’s very traditional approach to the practice of making timepieces. That said, the effort to locate these watches can be worth it because the Italian-minded Swiss Made watchmaker produces some really sexy sports watches along with some novel movement features. This particular Eberhard & Co. Scafograf 200 DLC Limited Edition reference 41044 watch isn’t about fancy movements or the highest price points but just tries to be an attractive-looking black-cased diver’s watch with a lot of personality, despite an overall traditional theme.
Most standard-collection Eberhard & Co. Scafograf (the name of their diver’s watches) models are water resistant to 300 or 100 meters. This watch is the odd bird with 200 meters of water resistance. It also has an automatic helium release valve. Not that you’ll need it, but Italian-designed diving watches love this feature, so think of them a lot like tachymeter scales on many chronograph watches. The Scafograf 200 DLC watch is also thin as a result being 43mm-wide and 12.6mm-thick. I know that is thicker than a Rolex Submariner (water resistant to 300 meters), but it is relatively thin-feeling when on the wrist. The Scafograf case design is particularly nice with its nuanced, soft edges and traditional overall profile. This is also true of the matching black DLC-coated steel bracelet, which is similar to others on the market but really does have its own welcome look and feel.
The DLC coating over the steel case is of good quality and for the bezel insert, Eberhard & Co. chooses a polished black ceramic disk. The company uses a cream-colored luminant that I prefer over green or white because it feels a bit more organic and thus attractive to the human eye. The dial does not bother with a date window (for the better), and the result is a very clean look with those contrasting larger triangular and smaller circular hour markers. Eberhard & Co. claims that this limited-edition Scafograf 200 DLC is inspired by watches the brand made in the 1950s and 1960s. This is true in a superficial sense when looking at the dial and bezel design, but the black-coated steel case, overall colors, and ceramic bezel were not things from that era. So for me, the appeal of this Scafograf 200 DLC is not that it’s a traditional watch, but that it’s a modern watch with a retro design.
Over the dial is a domed, AR-coated sapphire crystal. It has some glare, but it isn’t too bad. Otherwise, the view into the really attractively designed dial is a highlight of the watch. No doubt people can make quips about small things such as dial element proportions, etc., but the overall outcome of the Scafograf 200 DLC dial is nevertheless a success. A difficult decision is, no doubt, whether to pair it with the matching bracelet or opt for the high-quality and comfortable rubber strap. The latter is clearly the sportier option if you want to take this watch into action.
Inside the Scafograf 200 DLC watch is a Swiss Made automatic movement, which is probably a base ETA (or similar) running at 4Hz with about two days of power reserve. Eberhard & Co. doesn’t actually specify the movement, which is a bit odd, but that is their way. In a sense, the brand has a point because a watch like this isn’t being sold on account of the movement inside it. That it is a “Swiss Made automatic” is likely enough for most people.
If anything, the Scafograf 200 DLC Limited Edition watch got me really excited to get my hands on more of the Eberhard & Co. watches the company produces today. There are a lot of hidden gems here, and the people at Eberhard & Co. not only clearly know watches, but they also know what it takes to be a well-made and visually attractive watch.
Note that the physical watch I review here is a prototype that has the wrong caseback. I’ve included a picture of the correct caseback, which really only differs in some of the text and the limited-edition numbers and language. There you can see the sea star motif, which has been the long-standing spirit animal of the Eberhard & Co. Scafograf collection. It would have been cool for the caseback to also be in black DLC, but that isn’t a huge deal.
Eberhard & Co. chose a rather small number of pieces (135) for this limited-edition watch, but that isn’t uncommon for the brand. It is a sweet piece, but it’s not the only cool Scafograf worth looking at. This one was particularly compelling for me, and I think if enough people try them on, most will agree. The reference 41044 Eberhard & Co. Scafograf 200 DLC Limited Edition of 135 pieces (for the 135th anniversary of the brand) has a retail price of $4,490 USD on the rubber strap and $5,990 USD on the DLC steel bracelet. Learn more at the Eberhard & Co. watches website here.
